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Canada 

Hon. LOUIS CODERRE, Minister; 
R. G. McCONNELL, Deputy Minister. 



CS^olndiral iSurueg 



Museum Bulletin No. 19 

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SERIES, No. 7. OCTOBER 15, 1915 



A SKETCH OF THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE 
NASS RIVER INDIANS 



by 



Edward Sapir 



OTTAWA 
Government Printing Bureau No. 1565 

1915 



v> 



r 



MUSEUM BULLETIN XO. 19. 



Plate I. 




Chief T.L Derrick, of Aiyansh.N 



ass river. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Introduction 1 

Tribes and villages 3 

Phratries, clans, and crests 3 

(1.) Clans and crests of the ^it'anwi'Vkc 8 

(2.) Clans and crests of -the kitwankcrlk^ 12 

(3.) Clans and crests of the kit^i^e-'ntx 14 

(4.) Clans and crests of the ^dxate"" 15 

(5.) Distribution of crests 17 

House names among the Nass River Indians 21 

Personal names of the ^it' anwi'Vkc 22 

Ceremonial dances 28 

Classes of society 28 

Phonetic key 29 



October IS, 1915. 



Canada 

Geological Survey 

Museum Bulletin No. 19. 

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SERIES, No. 7. 



A Sketch of the Social Organization of the Mass River Indians. 

By Edward Sapir. 

INTRODUCTION. 

In February, 1915, a deputation of four Nass River Indians 
visited Ottawa on business connected with the Department of 
Indian Affairs. Through the kindness of Mr. D. C. Scott, the 
Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, their attention 
was drawn to the anthropological work of the Geological Survey 
and to the ethnological exhibits in its museum. Opportunity 
was thus gained, on February 18 and 19, for the writer to secure 
a sketch of some of the outlines of the social organization of the 
Nass River division of the Tsimshian stock, a sketch which is 
confessedly imperfect in many respects, but which may, for the 
present, contribute its share towards the comparative study of 
the problems of West Coast sociology. 

The Indians constituting the deputation were: 
(1.) Chief T. L. Derrick (see frontispiece), living at the 
village of Aiyansh {'a'ya'nc). He formerly lived at the village 
of kitlaxta-'^mckc, whence he moved to Aiyansh along with most 
of his tribesmen. He is 59 years of age and is the third chief 
by rank of the ^d'anwi'l'^kc tribe. His present Indian name is 
^€'yk'^, one of the noble names of the ^ctwiVna'^c'^ clan, to 
which Chief Derrick belongs and of which he is head chief. 



2 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 

His father was head chief of the kispo-^dwrds phratry of the 
^(twankcrlk^ tribe. He is also known as U'c'-mc, a nickname 
going back to his child name. Despite his age, Chief Derrick 
has quite a good command of English, and this, combined with 
his great intelligence and evident knowledge of aboriginal social 
conditions among his people, made it possible to obtain a larger 
amount of material in a short time than is perhaps ordinarily 
feasible. He is responsible for practically all the data contained 
in this paper. He was assisted by the interpreter, Mr. Woods, 
only part of the time. 

(2.) Chief W. J. Lincoln, living at the village of Kincolith 
(km-^o'l^x). He is about 40 years of age and is the youngest 
chief of the ^itxate"' tribe. His Indian name is qadaxc'^x, 
one of the noble names of the laxlo"kct' clan, to which Chief 
Lincoln belongs. 

(3.) Chief A. N. Calder, living at the village of Greenville 
(layqalfsa'P). He is about 46 years of age and is the head 
chief of the kct%i%e-"ntx tribe. His Indian name is 'nagwa'o'^ 
"long hand," one of the noble names of the laxkcbo" or Wolf 
phratry, to which Chief Calder belongs. 

(4.) Mr. R. S. Woods, living at Kincolith. He is about 
22 years of age and belongs to the noble class of the kitxafe'^ 
tribe. His Indian name is ncxdjo-'nf, one of the noble names of 
the laxs^i"k' or Eagle phratry, to which Mr. Woods belongs. 
Mr. Woods is only part Indian, his mother having been half- 
breed and his father white. He speaks perfect English and proved 
useful as interpreter. 

I may say that the data here presented were obtained with- 
out any reference whatever to the material on Nass River 
social organization that Boas gives in his account of the tribe 
(Report of the 65th meeting of the British Association for the 
Advancement of Science, 1895, pp. 569-583). Correspondences 
between his and my own data have, therefore, all the force of 
mutually corroborative evidence. 



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE NASS RIVER INDIANS. 3 

TRIBES AND VILLAGES. 

The Tsimshian tribes of Nass river are known collectively 
as ncsqa'^. Though held together by identity of language and 
common interest, they can hardly be said to form a political 
entity, each tribe being an independent unit and occupying its 
own village or villages. There are four of these tribes, occupying 
villages along the Nass in the following order, beginning with the 
mouth of the river: 

(L) kctxak'" "people of (fish) traps," located at the mouth 
of the river. They occupy the two villages of kcnyo'Vx "place 
of scalps", or Kincolith, and laxqaltsa'p "old village site" (literally 
"on the town"), or Greenville. The former village is said to be 
so named because the scalps of enemies used to be dried there. 

(2.) ktt%i%c'nix "people further up stream" (from the 
point of view of the preceding tribe). Their village is named 
lax'anla" "mountain slide." They are considered the main 
tribe of the Nass River Indians. 

(3.) ^Uwankcrlk'' "people of home-of-lizards" (from kcdk* 
"lizard"). They used to inhabit the old village of kdwankct'lk'*, 
from which the tribe receives its name. At present they are 
located at laxH 'yd'ns "under leaf", or Underleaf, a recently 
established village situated across the river from the old one. 

(4.) kd'anwcPkc "people moving regularly from and back 
to their home village." The name refers to their periodic de- 
scent to the mouth of the river to get olachen {sd-k'), but no 
other fish. They occupy the two villages of kdlaxta-'^mckc 
"village on ponds," or Gitlakdamix, and 'a' yd'ns "leaves coming 
out," or Aiyansh. The latter is a new village (only about 
forty years old), to which most of the inhabitants of the tribe 
have moved over, few being left at the older village of 
^itlaxta"''mikc. 

PHRATRIES, CLANS, AND CRESTS. 

The Nass River Indians, like their southern neighbours, the 
Tsimshian proper, are divided into four exogamous phratries 
{pHe-^q'') with maternal descent, i.e., the crests and other privi- 



4 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 

leges descend from a man to his sister's son; one's predecessor in 
the holding of any title or right is thus not his father, but his 
maternal uncle. The phratries are the lax^ibo"" "on the wolf," 
generally referred to simply as Wolves (cf. ^cho"^ "wolf"); the 
laxs^i"k' "on the eagle," generally referred to simply as Eagles 
(cf. xc^d'h "eagle"; xs%vh is the Tsimshian proper dialectic 
form); the ^cspo'"dwrd9, a name of unknown meaning; and the 
qana'da, also of unknown meaning. The name qana'da was 
said by Chief Derrick to be derived from qana"'" "frog," one of 
the crests of this phratry; it is more than likely, however, that 
this is merely a folk etymology to explain an otherwise meaning- 
less term. The main crest of the Wolves is the wolf, of the 
Eagles the eagle, of the kispo-'^dwi'dd (at least in part) the 
killer- whale i^ne'qt), of the qana'da the raven (qa-q'). 

As far as present distribution is concerned, these phratries 
are found well scattered among the four Nass River tribes, 
though not all of them are represented in each tribe. ^ The 
Wolves are found in all four tribes, but they do not occupy the 
same rank in each; they are the head phratry among the 
^it'anwc'l^kc,^it§i§€"ncx, and kttxate"^, but the third and last 
among the ^itwanckclk''. The Eagles are found represented 
in three of the tribes, being absent among the ^ct%i§e"n(x. 
The ^cspo'^dwt'dd phratry again is absent among the kct%i^€"ntx, 
but represented in the other three tribes. The qana'da phratry, 
finally, is found to be lacking among the kctwankcclk^ only. The 
relative importance of a phratry seems to depend on the number 
of members it counts. 

The phratries are subdivided into smaller groups that may 
be termed clans or, perhaps preferably, families. The Indian 
term for these subdivisions is wd'ndld'l, though the more in- 
clusive term pHe-^q''^ seems also to be used to apply to them; 
wd'ndtd'l may be translated as "being together with one another" 
(cf. Tsimshian reduplicated na-tdUa'l "company"), i.e. "group 
of kinsmen dwelling together." The clans have their definite 
order of rank within the phratry of a particular tribe and are 
characterized by the ownership of special crests, legends, songs, 

>It is quite likely, as Mr. Barbeau points out, ttiat the facts of distribution as given in this 
paper apply only to the nobles. 



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE NASS RIVER INDIANS. 5 

individual names, houses, hunting and fishing territories, and 
numerous other inheritable privileges. On the whole, a clan 
seems to be confined to a single tribe, though there are cases of 
a single clan name being represented in two distinct tribes. 
Thus, the ^cspo-"dwi'd9 clan of both the kitwankcrlk'* and 
^ct'anwc'l^kc bears the name of kcsqd-'st', though the crests, as 
far as they were obtained, do not correspond at all; the main 
crest of this clan among the ^ctwankcc'lk'' is the killer-whale, 
among the '^tfanwrVkc the moon. In other words, rank and 
privileges can not be safely predicated of either phratry or clan 
(insofar as covered by a name of more than unilocal distri- 
bution), but must always be studied with reference to a partic- 
ular tribe or, what amounts to the same thing, village. 

While each of the four phratries, as we have seen, has its 
characteristic or head crest, it does not at all follow that this 
crest figures as the main crest of each of its clans. Thus, among 
six Nass River clans belonging to the Wolf phratry, only two 
possess the wolf as their main crest (in one of these, moreover, 
this crest has the special name of "wolves moving about"); in 
two others the wolf occurs as one of the crests, but not as the 
main crest, this position being occupied by the "son of black 
bear" and "white grizzly" respectively; in the two other families, 
finally, the wolf is apparently not owned as crest at all, the main 
crest in each of these being the "black-bear prince." Similar 
conditions prevail with reference to the other phratries. The 
ascription of a single definite main crest to each of the phratries 
must, therefore, not be understood inclusively. However, there 
seems to be no doubt that some connexion is recognized between 
the member of a phratry and his phratric crest or crests, even in 
cases where it is not looked upon as one of the specific crests of 
his clan. Thus, while the ^Uwd'nd-kc'^ clan of the ^it'anwc'l'kc 
tribe, the second clan in rank of the Wolf phratry as represented 
in the tribe, does not possess the right to use the wolf as a real 
crest, it nevertheless can show it in a potlatch "for fun," as it is 
their phratric emblem; the point is that they may not use the 
wolf crest to increase their prestige, as by the giving away of 
property in connexion with it. Chief Derrick went on to say 
that any member of the Wolf phratry could use both wolf and 



MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 



black-bear as ordinary crests, but as specific "high" crests only 
insofar as his clan had the definite privilege of using one or both 
of them. The right to use a crest can be transmitted only within 
the limits of matrilinear inheritance. However, it is sometimes 
customary among the Nass River Indians for a chief to lend his 
main crest to be shown at his son's potlatch, without his son 
thereby securing the right to the regular use of the crest. There 
is also a tendency to reserve the use of the most important 
crest or crests to the head chief and his titular successor, the 
other members of the clan being permitted to use only the minor 
crests. Thus, among the kitwd'nd'Mr^, the second family of the 
Wolf phratry of the ^ct'anwrl^kc, the two main crests, the "prince 
black-bear" and the lo''ayo"q' crest, were reserved, as far as 
represententation at potlatches was concerned, for the chief 
(Chief Derrick himself) and his chief sororal nephew, while the 
minor crests of the family, such as the "underground people," 
"doorkeepers," and "stone platform," could be used either by 
himself or his inferiors of the same family. It goes without 
saying that a special crest of a family can not be used by a 
meu'ber of another family of the same or another phratry, even 
if the latter is superior in rank. According to Mr. Woods, one 
cannot even pay a neighbour a visit and wear a garment decor- 
ated with a minor crest without justifying the use of such regalia 
by the expenditure of property at the house visited. In view of 
these circumstances I think it may be more proper to speak of an 
individual having the right to use a crest than owning a crest. The 
latter terminology implies, or may be taken to imply, a mystico- 
religious relation between the individual and the crest-being, 
an implication which it seems safest to avoid. Connected with 
the attitude of jealous respect towards the crest is the custom 
of not showing more than one crest at a single potlatch. 

There seems to be a marked tendency for each clan to show 
its crests in some more or less definitely circumscribed concrete 
form, different from that in which the same crests are exhibited 
by other fa lilies. In quite a number of cases this tendency is 
reflected in the formal name of the crest, the name of the crest 
animal being modified by some descriptive epithet. Thus, as 
we have already seen, the wolf crest occurs also in the special form 



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE NASS RIVER INDIANS 7 

of "wolves moving about," the black-bear crest also as "black- 
bear prince" (the epithet "prince" is found also with other 
crests, e.g., "killer-whale prince" and "mountain-goat prince," 
and seems to indicate that the crest as used by the particular 
family stands higher in rank than the simple unqualified crest 
of other families) and "son of black-bear." In many cases the 
modified crest name indicates clearly the type of ceremonial 
object shown as a representation of the crest. Thus, we not 
only have the eagle crest, but also "stone eagle," "wooden eagle," 
"abelone-covered ea ,le," and "eagle garment." Similarly, the 
raven crest appears also in the special forms of "abelone-covered 
raven" and "two ravens," the mountain-goat crest also as 
"mountain-goat hat." It is significant to note that while 
the mountain-goat is primarily a kispo'^dwrdd crest, the special 
"mountain-goat hat" was given as one of the crests of a qana'da 
clan. The tendency towards a concrete interpretation of the 
crest idea comes out still more strongly in the case of crests which 
refer not to animals or celestial bodies but to peculiar ceremonial 
objects connected with legends. Thus, one of the crests of an 
Eagle clan is a ceremonial ladle bearing the name of "small 
coffin," and a Wolf clan has as one of its crests the "foolish 
grease-dish." There can be little doubt that crests of this 
type are of lesser age than the typical animal and celestial crests, 
as they seem in every case to be peculiar to special clans and thus 
to have arisen, on the whole, subsequently to the splitting up of 
larger groups into the present clans. It is not probable that 
historically they are strictly comparable to the more general 
crests; it seems quite likely that they are to be explained as a 
result of the ever-increasing tendency to identify the crest with 
a specific representation of it. Psychologically it is important 
that the same term, ayu'k^s, is applied to both types of crests, 
as well as to the privilege of using a distinctive house name. 

We shall now give the ranking of phratries and families in 
each of the four tribes, beginning with the ^(t'anwc'l*kc and 
proceeding down stream, also the crests used by each family, 
so far as they have been ascertained. I can naturally not claim 
completeness in this outline of clans and crests and so would 
like to emphasize the caution that too much must not, in most 



8 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 

cases, be made of negative evidence. Chief Derrick did not in 
any case enumerate ail the crests of a clan. This was due partly 
to forgetfulness, partly to the impossibility of doing more than 
skimming the surface in the short time at our disposal. The 
crests are given in the order in which Chief Derrick dictated them. 
This should not be taken to imply that the order indicated rigidly 
reflects their ranking, even assuming that a definite ranking of 
crests is obtainable. Nevertheless, I believe the order at least 
approximates to such a ranking, the less widely distributed 
crests generally coming last. At any rate, there was no doubt in 
Chief Derrick's mind as to which was the highest crest for 
any given clan. 

(1.) Clans and Crests of the ^tt'anwcVkc. 

The phratries, all four of which are here represented, with 
their clans, rank as follows: 

I. lax^cbo-"" "on wolf." This is the head phratry of the tribe 

and is divided into three clans, ranking in the following 
order : 

1. ^tsgansnd-'t "people from s^ansna-'t, home-of- 
berry-bushes" ; sqansna"t is the name of their 
former village. The head chief is skate- "n. 

2. kttwiVna-kt''^ "all in one (though living in different 
houses)." The head chief is Chief Derrick. 

3. ^ttwdlu-ya'x'^ "people of hiding place." 

II. lays§v'h "on eagle." This also is subdivided into three 
clans, ranking in the following order : 

1. S9tnlaxs§r'k' "real lays§i"k\'' i.e. "foremost 

Eagles." 

2. laxtsdme'Vx "on beaver." 

3. kUqane-'^qs "people of ladders." 

III. ^ispo-^'dwc'dd, consisting of only one clan: 

1. ^csqd-'st' "people living among hd-ci', certain green 
bushes." 

IV. qana'da, not further subdivided. 



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE NASS RIVER INDIANS. 9 

Chief Derrick gave the last two phratries in this order, 
but stated that they were alike in rank. 
The crests of these clans are as follows: 

I. Wolf phratry. 

1. ^is<jansnd"t clan. 

a. ^cbo'"" "wolf." Main crest of this clan 
specifically, as well as general crest of 
the Wolf phratry. 

b. cmdx "black bear." This is the ordinary 
bear, not the "prince bear" of the second 
family of this phratry. The word cwoap 
is probably identical with Tsimshian 
sa'mi, which, according to Boas, means 
"meat," but is also used as plural for 
ol "black-bear." The proper term for 
black bear in Nass River is 'ol. 

c. haikdaxa' "something to poke (or 
stab) the sky with" (properly ha-kel-lax- 
ha', cf. Tsimshian ^al "to spear").^ 
This is a long ceremonial staff that is 
shown in potlaches; there are songs that 
go with it. 

2. ^itwiVna-'^t''^ clan. 

a. Iko-wt'Pkcclkum cmdx "prince black-bear." 

Main crest of the family. When shown 
as a crest, the eyes and ears of the bear 
are inlaid with abelone. 

b. lo-'ayo-'q' "controlling the law (of seating 
at potlatches)," literally perhaps "where- 
in is law, custom" (cf. Tsimshian aya-'wux 
"law, custom"). This term refers to the 
skull-like mask, representing the head 
chief of the ghosts, worn by a man at 
the door whose business it is to usher 



»Tsimshian forms are taken from F. Boas, Tsimshian Texts (New Series). Publications of 
American Ethnological Society, vol. III. 1912, vocabulary (pp. 254-284). 



10 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 

guests to their proper seats at the pot- 
latch given by the host to show this crest. 
The masked usher represents the mythical 
head chief of the ghosts who, according to 
the family legend accounting for the ori- 
gin of the crest, gave power to the family 
ancestor. Chief Derrick explained that 
his own right to use the lo'*ayo"q* 
crest is due to the fact that his legendary 
ancestor took the skull-mask away from 
the one who first had it, i.e. the ghost. 
This crest is evidently identical with Boas' 
lo'ayo-'qs "the commanders," given, how- 
ever, as a Nass River kcspo'^dwrds crest.* 

c. kdddmc^d'x" "underground people." This 
crest is shown in the form of a wooden 
carving of a man {^dddm ya"^ "wooden 
man"). 

d. ^Ulu'ce-'l "doorkeepers." This crest has 
no song or story connected with it. When 
a potlatch is given, the man showing it 
erects two posts outside of the house 
(they do not constitute regular totem 
poles or p'hd'n). 

e. td-qamlo'''p "platform of stone." 

3. ^(twdlu-ya'x'^ clan. 

a. byomkibo-'" "great number of wolves mov- 

ing about," literally perhaps "wolves 
moving into the house through the smoke- 
hole." When this crest is shown in a 
potlatch, the members of the host's 
family come out wearing wolf skins. 

b. 'a'xqco'd9m hatsc^gwd''^ "foolish grease- 
dish." This refers to a ceremonial dish 
which, at a potlatch, would be shown to 
the invited chief to eat out of. 



* See F. Boas, The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians, 
Report of the U. S. National Museum for 1895, p. 327. 



SOCIAL ORGA^aZATION OF THE NASS RIVER INDIANS. 11 

c. 'dnyo)c^€'t "roasting a man." In exhibit- 
ing this crest at a potlatch they used to 
put a stick through a slave and roast 
him. This practice refers to a legend 
according to which a Tsimshian chief was 
once taken captive to the ^ct'anwc'l'kc 
and so treated because he was in the habit 
of ill-treating his wife, a princess of the 
Wolf phratry of the ^U'anwt'Vkc. 



II. Eagle phratry. 



1. sdmlaxs%v'h clan. 

a. xc%d-%im h'^'p "stone eagle," the main 

crest of the clan. The crest name 
refers to a small stone eagle found ages 
ago, according to the legend, in the 
mountains. 

b. kcbd^'x'', a supernatural being living 
under the water. 

c. doUs S9m'a)'^(t "vagina chief." This re- 

fers to a ceremonial dish shown at pot- 
latches, that was carved into the shape of 
a vagina. 

2. laxfsame'l^x clan. 

a. IpC" "humpbacked whale," the main crest. 

b. tsdme'Vx "beaver." 

3. ^(tqanc'^qs clan. 

a. md-'c hat "white marten," the main 

crest. 

b. (stnlc^ "grey squirrel." 

c. IgwD'ancgr'^ct "small coffin." This refers 

to a large feast ladle in the shape of a 
coffin. 



12 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 

III. ^(spo'^'dwi'dg phratry. 

1. ^ts^d-'st clan. 

a. lioqs "moon," the main crest. Note that 
though the killer-whale is the main crest of 
this phratry as a whole, it cannot be used 
by the kcspo-Hwi'd9 of the ^U'anwi'l*kc. 

b. pctd''^ "grouse." 

c. haq* "wild goose." 

IV. qana'da phratry. 

a. qa-q' "raven," the main crest. 

b. qana"'" "frog." 

c. c(t)'q "robin redbreast." 

(2.) Clans and Crests of the ^dwankct'lk^. 

The phratries, only three of which are here represented, with 
their clans, rank as follows : 

I. k(spo-^dwrd9, the head phratry. The kctwankct'lk' are con- 
sidered the main Nass River tribe for representatives of this 
phratry. According to Chief Derrick, it consists of only 
one clan: 

1. ^cs4d-'st*. 

II. laxs^i-'k' "on eagle," consisting of two clans: 

1. laxlo-'^'kcP "bundle of things." 

2. ^Us€-"q^ "in the bow." 

III. lay^cbu-"' "on wolf," consisting of a single clan: 

1. laxfry(o-ql. This is said to be the name of a village 
in the "Flathead" country to the south, somewhere 
on the mainland about halfway between Nass 
river and the present city of Vancouver. 

The qana'da phratry is not represented among the 
kitwankcrlk"^. 

The crests of these clans are: 



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE NASS RIVER INDIANS. 13 

I. ^tspo-^dwi'dd phratry. 

1. ^csqd"st' clan. 

a. lguw('l*kcdgum 'ne-'ql "prince killer- whale," 

the main crest. 

b. kutkonu'kc "owl." 

c. mdde-'gdm ha'aya'^s "water grizzly". 

d. 'nrqancgc" "bending over," referring to a 
ceremonial representation of the rain- 
bow. maxma''ai', the ordinary term for 
"rainbow," is a more common name of 
the crest. 

e. Igowc'Vkcilgum md't^o^ "prince mountain- 

goat." 

II. Eagle phratry. 

1. laxlo-'"kct' clan. 

a. ta^at'qada-'t'kut* "man of the woods," a 
supernatural being who lives off by him- 
self and flies in the air. This is the main 
crest of the family. 

b. qa-t' "shark." 

c. 'aw/o-i!gyw wr//>' "bird's-nest house." This 
is the name of one of the houses of the 
village (see section on House Names), 
but it is at the same time considered a 
crest. 

d. xcga-gam/'a'" "wooden eagle." The crest is 

represented as a pole surmounted by an 
eagle's head. 

e. ctdxtxo'x "halibut on one side, half 

halibut." 

2. ^cls£"'q' clan. 

a. is9me"Vx "beaver," the main crest. 

b. xc§d-k' "eagle." 

III. Wolf phratry. 

1. laxti'yto'ql clan. 

a. crha'wa'lk'', translated as "son of a black- 
bear," main crest. The term evidently 



14 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 

means, "new taboo, recently forbidden" 
(cf. Tsimshian ha'wa'lk "taboo"), and 
seems to be a periphrasis for another 
term which, for reasons of taboo, was 
not mentioned, 
b. kibu-'" "wolf." This crest was stated to 
be less important here then the crha'wa'lk", 
though it gives the phratry its name. 

(3.) Clans and Crests of the ^ct%ige"ncx. 

There are only two phratries represented in this tribe. 
These are, in the order of their rank: 

I. laxkibu"" "on wolf," which consists of only one clan: 

1. kitgi^e-'n'x. 

II. qana'da, which also is said not to be subdivided but to 
consist of one clan: 

1. qana'da. 
The Eagle and ^tspo-"dwrd9 phratries would seem to be 
lacking. The crests of these clans are: 

I. Wolf phratry. 

1. ^U§i§€-'ncx family. 

a. Igo'wt'l^kcclgum cmd'x "prince black-bear," 

the main crest. 

b. y(o'px, a mythical water animal resemb- 
ling an inflated balloon {yco'Px "to inhale"). 
When this crest is to be shown, a house 
is built with a door in the form of the 
opening and closing beak of the mythical 
animal. 

c. noxc kd-lho'dumql "mother of Not-quite- 

completed." This refers to a ceremonial 
feasting spoon, named after noxc 
Md'lho'dumql, a large mythological woman. 



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE NASS RIVER INDIANS. 15 

II. qana'da phratry. 

a. ga-g' "raven," the main crest. The full 
name of this crest here is txabdd-d9myd"q* 
"raven all covered with abelone" (cf. 
bda' "abelone"). 

b. te'bm "sea-lion." 

c. qana"'" "frog." 

d. galxmd't'x "mountain-goat hat," referring 
to a ceremonial hat worn during a 
potlatch. 

(4.) Clans and Crests of the kitxak"*. 

All four phratries are represented in this tribe. They rank 
as follows: 

I. laxkcbu'"" "on wolf," which was stated not to be subdivided 

but to consist of only one clan. 
1. laxkcbu-'^. 

II. laxc%v'h "on eagle," which is subdivided into four clans, 
ranking as follows: 

1. ^csqabdnd-'x^ "people dwelling among thorns." 

2. laxlo-^'kct'. 

3. kUlaxwusd'x "people living on a sand-bar." 

4. kccqd'd'kc "people living on water." 

III. ktspo-^dwt'dd, not subdivided into clans. 

IV. qana'da, not subdivided into clans. 
The crests of these clans are as follows: 

I. Wolf phratry. 

a. mdkcgum li^c'^nck^ "white grizzly," the 
main crest. 

b. mac '9'' "white bear." 

c. ^ibu"^ "wolf." 

II. Eagle phratry. 

1. kcsqabdnd-'x^ clan. 

a. ne-^qam qa-'t' "shark with big dorsal 
fin," the main crest. 



16 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 

b. xc%d-'k' "eagle." 

c. ts^me'Px "beaver." 

d. hyo^r'htVx "rotten ^r'htVx'' (the %f'hcV^ 
is a supernatural being living under the 
water) . 

2. laylo-"'kct' clan. 

a. txa'hddddm xc%a-'k' "eagle all covered 
with abelone," the main crest. 

b. 'nax'noyom txo'x "supernatural halibut 
halibut shaman." 

c. ^sgme'lc^c "beaver." Its proper name here 

is he'tgwutl (same'Ux "standing beaver." 

d. Igo-wrl^kcclgum hauts "prince shag." 

e. txabddddtn isd''^ "face all covered with 

abelone." 

3. ^ttlaxwusd'x clan. 

a. ycga-^' "eagle" (i.e. plain eagle, not 
qualified in any way). 

4. ^icqad'kc clan. 

a. kwe-cxc§d-'k' "eagle garment," referring 

to a ceremonial garment made of eagle 
sldns. 

b. x^a'ndtl tsdme'lcx "beaver eating wood." 

III. ^tspo''^dwi'dd phratry. 

a. loqc "moon," the main crest. 

b. pdc'ct' "stars." 

c. k'^ut^'ky'unu'kc "owl." 

d. saYaitha"t' "two men with the same in- 
testines." 

e. mdc wa'"- "white deer." 

f. maxma''av "rainbow." 

g. tr'ait'k'* "thunder." 

IV. qana'da phratry. 

a. gamd"ts "star-fish,"^ the main crest. 

'This wa» translated as "barnacle," but Mr. Barbeau informs me that it is obviously 
mistranslated for "star-fish," a qana'da crest. 



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE NASS RIVER INDIANS. 



17 



b. tapxa"ddm ya-'q' "two ravens." 

c. qana-''" "frog." 

d. c^/ca'/V "bird-skin hat." 

e. haqol^a-'k' "lance, spear." 

f. lo'tse-'tdl 'atn§e"^k' "saw-bill duck spitting 

into." 



(5.) Distribution of Crests. 

The following tables conveniently summarize the preceding 
data. Each column is headed by a combination of numbers 
referring to one of the clans; the first (arable) numeral refers to 
the numbered list of tribes (see page 3), the second (roman) to the 
phratry as ranked in the tribe, the third (arable) to the clan 
within the phratry. Thus, the column headed 3. II. 2 contains the 
crests, so far as recorded, of the second clan of the second phratry 
of the third tribe, i.e. the crests of the kctse-'^q" clan of the 
Eagle phratry of the kttwankcclk'^. The occurrence of any one 
of the crests enumerated in the first column in a particular 
clan is indicated by a letter in its column corresponding to 
the order in which the crest occurs in the preceding outline. 
The main crest of a clan may be readily ascertained by reference 
to "a" in its column. 

Summary of Wolf Crests. 



Crest 


4.1.1 


4.1.2 


4.1.3 


3. Ill 


2.1 


1.1 


Total 


Wolf 


a 






b 




c 


31 


Wolves moving about . . 




a 


11 


^ = 4 


Black-bear 


b 












Prince black-bear 


a 






a 


a 
b 


'• — 4 


"Son of black-bear".. . . 
White grizzly 






a 




White bear 














Underground people 




c 










ywpy 








b 






Sky-stabber 


c 










"Wherein-is-law" (ghost) . 


b 
d 
e 












Doorkeepers 














Stone platform 














Foolish grease-dish 




b 
c 










Roasting a man 














"Mother of Not -com- 
pleted" (grease dish) 








c 




1 



18 



MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 



u 



<s cs cs 



II II 



nj • .J3 



dXi 



■S> ■ ■ ei ■ • • a 



■Xi ■ ■ u 



■ . <U 0) c 

:^ rt rt G 

.^ a> (u u 

: S c oj S, 












■ £f 

:j2 



nJ 



tuo (u^ i: c 






i'l^^sg. 



5 • ^. 



,• <u o 









t«s 



2 c 

'So !3 






SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE NASS RIVER INDIANS. 

Summary of ^ispo'^dwi'da Crests. 



19 



Crest 


4.III1 


3.11 


l.III 


Total 


Moon 


a 




a 
b 
f 


2 


Stars 






Rainbow 






1}- 


"Bending over" 




d 


Thunder 




g 


Grouse 


b 
c 






Goose 








Prince killer- whale 


a 
b 
e 
c 






Owl 




c 




Prince mountain-goat 






Water grizzly 








White deer 




e 
d 




Two men with same intestines 

















iThese two dans are known by the same name, kis4(i''sl' 



Summary of qana'da Crests. 



Crest 


4. IV 


2. II 


1. IV 


Total 


Raven 


a 






n 


Abelone-raven 


a 




1 =3 


Two ravens 




b 
c 


ij 


Frog 

Robin redbreast 


b 
c 


c 




Sea-lion 


b 






Star-fish 




a 
f 




Saw-bill duck spitting into. . . . 








Mountain-goat hat 




d 




Bird-skin hat 


d 
e 




Lance 









These tables show the presence of a minimum of forty- 
eight distinct crests among the Nass River Indians; if we count 
special forms of the same crest as distinct crests, we obtain a 
total of sixty-three. Most of these occur in only one clan of 
a tribe; the only crests that are more widely distributed, so far as 
can be gathered from this material, being the wolf, black-bear, 
eagle, beaver, shark, halibut, ^r'hdx'^, moon, rainbow, owl, 
raven, frog, and mountain-goat. As a matter of fact, however, 
the total number of crests represented among the Nass River 
tribes is undoubtedly several times as great as here indicated. 
Moreover, the failure of such well-known crests as the grizzly 
bear, water grizzly, and killer-whale to appear more than once 
is clearly due to the fragmentary character of our data. Each 



20 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 

of the crests, with the one exception already noted (the mountain- 
goat occurs both as a ^ispo-^dwc'dd and qana'da crest) is restricted 
to a single phratry; the grizzly bear of the Wolf phratry is, 
of course, not the same being as the water grizzly of the ^ispo""- 
dwi'dd. 

There is no doubt that at least one reason for the appearance 
of the same crest in more than one clan is the fact that clans 
often originated by the splitting of earlier more inclusive units, so 
that they share the same tradition up to a certain point. More- 
over, the fact that any particular clan possesses only one form 
of a given crest points to the secondary origin of the more 
special forms of the typical crests; thus, the beaver, "standing 
beaver," and "beaver eating wood" of various Eagle clans 
doubtless represent special developments of a common beaver- 
crest tradition. 

On the other hand, if any weight is to be attached to the 
non-occurrence of characteristic phratric crests in certain clans, 
there would seem to be very good reason to believe that at 
least some of these originally stood outside the j phratry and 
were only later, perhaps owing to the stress of some systematizing 
tendency, included in one of the four main phratries now recog- 
nized. In this way would be explained, for instance, why two 
of the three Nass River ^cspo-''dwc'd9 clans recorded have the 
moon as their main crest (without at the same time owning the 
killer- whale), while the other has the killer-whale as its main crest 
(without at the same time owning the moon). Here two originally 
distinct clans, or groups of clans, one characterized by the 
killer-whale crest, the other by the moon crest, seem to have 
become consolidated into a ^tspo-'^dwc'dd phratry. Equally 
instructive examples occur among the Wolf and Eagle families. 
That, e.g., two of the nine Eagle clans recorded, the laxtsame'Vx 
or Beaver clan of the ^ct'anwrl^kc and the kUqane-'^qs clan 
of the same tribe, do not own the eagle, their phratric crest, 
is best explained by assuming that they originally had nothing 
to do with the true Eagle clan or phratry, but were only second- 
arily amalgamated with it. The former of these two exceptional 
families is, significantly enough, characterized by a name that 
directly refers to one of its crests, the beaver; the very form 



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE NASS RIVER INDIANS. 21 

of the name, laxtsdme'l^x, is strictly analogous to that of the 
phratric names lax^ibo-"* (Wolf) and laxs^v'k' (Eagle), thus 
directly suggesting that in the remote past the group character- 
ized by the beaver crest was a distinct social unit quite indepen- 
dent of and parallel to the groups characterized by the wolf and 
eagle crests. The evidence derived from the family legends 
would naturally be of the greatest assistance in establishing 
these and other such reconstructions. One thing seems very clear 
at present — that the present fourfold (not to speak of a simpler 
tripartite) arrangement into phratries cannot be forthwith 
assumed as the historical nucleus from which the present com- 
plex clan system, with its irregularities of crest distribution, 
has arisen. 

HOUSE NAMF^ AMONG THE NASS RIVER INDIANS. 

One of the privileges owned by certain families was the use of 
a distinctive house name, a privilege to which the same term 
'ayu'k's is applied as to the crest. According to Chief Derrick, 
by no means every chief house of a clan has such a name. At 
any rate, he knew of only eight such house names among the 
Nass River tribes, three of which belong to the ^ct^anwi'Vkc, two 
to the kUwankcrlk^, and three to the ^lixafe'"; the ^li^i^cnix, 
according to Chief Derrick, have no ceremonial house names. 

Beginning with the ^U'anwrl*kc, we find that their old 
village of kUlaxfa-'^mikc possessed the following three house names 
(the new village of 'd'yd'nc has naturally no new house names of 
its own, but simply uses the older names from kitlaxta'^'intkc): 

1, Of ktsqansna''H^ clan (Wolf phratry): wuctn^d- 
Pdldm'dld" "fire going through two smoke-holes" 
(cf. 'did" "smoke hole"). This house is inhabited 
by chief «i''*c 'yoq'^ "father of (i.e. owner of) (slave 
named) 'yoq\" 

2. Of kUwiVnd-^t."^ clan (Wolf phratry): wdlo-'a-'ml 
q9"'t "(house) entrance of which is attended by joy" 

(literally, "being-good-therein heart"). This is 
Chief Derrick's (^e-y^'") house, recently built at 
'd'yd'nc. 



22 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 

3. Of laxtsdme'Px clan (Eagle phratry): Iptndm wc'lp 
"whale house." Ipm "humpbacked whale," it will 
be remembered, is the main crest of this clan. 
This house is inhabited by chief le-^g"^ "used up" 
(this word is used, e.g., of hair falling out of fur 
or using up of floor planks). 
The two house names found among the kdwankci'lk^ are: 

1. Of laxlo-^^kcf- clan (Eagle phratry): ' anlo'lkdm wt'lp 

"Eagle's nest." This house was owned by Chief 
Derrick's maternal grandfather. It is inhabited 
by chief ^wfxwo"''"'" "salmon spearer" (cf. wa"'"'" 
"two-pronged salmon spear"). 

2. Of laxtcyo"ql clan (Wolf phratry) : wdloxc 'a'nolk'' 

"drumming all over in the house" (cf. ^a'nol 
"drum"). This house is inhabited by chief pax^apl 
xs§d"h "ten eagles on a tree." 
The three house names found among the kctxate'^ axe: 

1. Of laxlo-'^kct' clan (Eagle phratry): 'anwuctndjx'q'^ 

"(house) that one gets ashamed in after entering 
(because it is so long)" (cf. dp-q' "to be ashamed"). 
It is inhabited by chief kUxy". 

2. Of lax^tho-"^ (Wolf) phratry: 'an^clcmd'x "where 
black-bear lies down to sleep." It is inhabited by 
chief nr'^clcc 'yd"n "father of (slave named) 
'yd'n, Excrement." 

3. Of ^tspo-'^dwcdd phratry: wt'lpl /a:x;a' "sky house." 

It is inhabited by chief wf''*c 'yo'ct^ "father o\ 
(slave named) 'yo'ct'.'' 

PERSONAL NAMES OF THE ^d'anwi'l'kc. 

Anything like a complete survey of the men's and women's 
names characteristic of the different clans of the Nass River 
Indians was, of course, entirely out of the question under the cir- 
cumstances. 1 1 was necessary to content ourselves with a selection 
of typical names belonging to the different clans of one of the 
tribes, the kd'anwt'Vkc. The names of highest rank are kept 
apart from the more common names. It is believed that at 



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE NASS RIVER INDIANS. 23 

least some idea is given of the spirit of the very interesting 

system of naming that obtains among the tribes of Tsimshian 

stock. 

I. Wolf phratry names. 

1. kcsqansna-'t' clan, noblest names: 

wj^^cc h'''p "stone dish," the noble m.ale name of 

highest rank in the family. 
mtnlkokckum §iba'yukH xc§d"k' "eagle flaps his 

wings slowly," a prince's name. 
ni'^'c 'yjq'^ "father of (slave named) 'yoq'," a male 

name, ^tpla-'x^ "little trout" (cf. /a-x" "trout"), 

the noble female name of highest rank in the 

family. 
'axtrbo'x" "whale spouts," a princess' name. 

More common names are : 

hcs 'no''H'ks "lying stunned," a man's name. 
wrbdnlmdc qaya-'Ut' "big belly of mac qaya-'' d\ a 
small salt-water fish" (cf. Tsimshian qayer'H 
"bull-head"), a woman's name. 

A slave name owned by this clan is: 
no''nc\ a man's name. 

2. ^ttwcVna-'^c''^ clan, noblest names: 
'axg!pa'yuk'' "(eagle) remains on a tree, unable to 

fly," the noble male name of highest rank. 
hasqa"x "white wind," a prince's name. 
^e-^xk"-, a male name. 
ni-kwdlr'ltk'^ "(eagle's) head drooping as he rests 

on a tree," the noble female name of highest 

rank. It was borne by Chief Derrick's mother. 
t'qakctjx"^ waql tsdmclx "beaver's tail lying on the 

ground," a princess' name. 

More common names are: 

xpaye'x'''' "people sitting down in a row," a 

man's name. 
qwadzaxga-'kl "mouse passes right through 

(anus) when swallowed" (cf. ^a-kl "mouse"), 

a man's name. 



24 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 

noxc 'e"l "mother of (slave named) 'e-i," a woman's 

name. 
paita-" "sit in the middle," a woman's name. 
3. ^ctwcUu-ya'x'^ dan, noblest names: 

tccncgiba'yuk'' "(eagle) flies away (without salmon 

which he had been eating when sitting down)," 

the male name of highest rank. 
ct'dd-"' "(lake frozen over with) new ice," a man's 

name. 
CO' da- 'I "new lady," the female name of highest 

rank. 
kctm^cyo'q\ a woman's name. 
More common names are: 

ti^ "get ashamed (when entering the house and 

seeing many people)," a man's name. 
tel lo"Haq' "some rotten ones in a box" (cf. hq' 

"rotten"), a man's name. 

II. Eagle phratry names. 

1. S9mlaxsgr'k' clan, noblest names: 

qade-'ldhdm haya'tsk"* "anchor for a copper" (cf. 
haya'isk" "ceremonial copper"), the male name 
of highest rank. 

ni''*c ^I't^kc "father of (slave named) krf^kc;' a 
man's name. 

nHse-'ts qa'^ "grandmother of (slave named) 
ga'S" the female name of highest rank. 
More common names are: 

xistyc* "come passing through a strait," a man's 
name. 

noxc ha-'H'k'' "mother of (slave named) Wood- 
pecker," a woman's name. 

2. laxtsdmc'l^x clan, noblest names: 

qaldcxma'qt lo-laqtl kcho-' "he throws behind corpse 
of wolf" (cf. lo-laqt "corpse"), the male name of 
highest rank. 

qam'nd-'het'k^ "(wolf) stands looking on bank and 
starts back," a man's name. 



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE NASS RIVER INDIANS. 25 

le-'q" "used up," a man's name. 

'okcqaic€'* "grizzly bear's foot," the female name 

of highest rank. 
'nd-'mct''m(o-'t'k'' "(wolves) stand whining on 

bank of river," a woman's name. 
More common names are : 

4wadzaxkco'o"* "fresh fish (eaten by bear or wolf) 

passes through quickly," a man's name. 
lo-'eskum fs9mto'k'' "stinking in the navel" (cf. 

iok'' "navel"), a man's name. 
coYaitqa'a'q' "wolf pack comes together and howls," 

a woman's name. 

III. ^(spo-^dwrdQ phratry names. 

1. ^isqa-'st' clan, noblest names: 

wucinxpc'Htk'' "dividing copper into ten pieces," 

the male name of highest rank. 
wi-k(kcna"^qc "wide bracelet," the female name 
of highest rank. 
More common names are: 

nr'*c hat wa-xs "father of (slave named) wa'CfS." 

caitkcch-" "school of small fish all run out under 

water when touched by a man," a woman's name. 

IV. qana'da phratry noblest names. 

tsi-ta-'^t^ the male name of highest rank. Its 

meaning is not known. 
qalkcdapxa-'H' "two (wolves) go together," a 

man's name. 
'axdrwdllo-yo-'^dd "much property left behind in a 

box," a man's name. 
k'Hr§9-'" "(wolf) swims from river across bay," 

the female name of highest rank. 
More common names are : 

tdli-'^ck' "socks," a man's name. 

qe'lxh"" "shouting," a man's name. 

ya''ak'", a woman's name. 

U^ahalye-'* "(wolf) walks along the beach," a 

woman's name. 



26 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 

Two types of name illustrated in this material are of particu- 
lar interest. The first is comprised by names like wi''*c kct^kc 
"father of krf^kc," noxc ha-'H'k" "mother of Woodpecker," 
tiHse-'ts qa'^ "grandmother of qa'K" The second element in 
such names is generally the name of a slave, while the first 
element (father, mother, [grandfather], or grandmother) in- 
dicates not the relation of kin but that of ownership. The names 
are purely traditional and do not, of course, necessarily imply 
that the bearer has or had a slave of the indicated name. That 
an ancestor may have had a slave of that name, thus accounting 
for the origin of the full name, is naturally another matter. 

Of still greater interest are the names that refer to crests. 
The chief point to note with regard to these is that such names 
refer not to a crest of the clan or phratry to which they belong, 
but to a crest of one of the other three phratries. Thus, several 
Wolf phratry names refer to the eagle, the main crest of the 
Eagle phratry (e.g. "Eagle-flaps-his-wings-slowly," "Eagle-re- 
mains-on-a -tree-unable-to-fly," "Eagle's-head-droops-as-he-rests 
on-a-tree," "Eagle-flies-away-without-salmon"); to the hump- 
backed whale, also an Eagle crest (e.g. "Whale-spouts"); to 
the beaver, an Eagle crest (e.g. "Beaver's-tail-lying-on-the- 
ground"); and to the bullhead,^ a qana'da crest (e.g. "Big-belly- 
of -whiter-bullhead"). Conversely, several Eagle phratry names 
refer to the wolf, the main crest of the Wolf phratry (e.g. "He- 
throws-behind-corpse-of- wolf , ' ' ' ' Wolf-stands-looking-on-bank- 
and-starts-back, ' ' ' ' Wolves-stand- whining-on-bank-of-river, ' ' 

"Wolf-pack-comes-together-and-howls"); or to the grizzly- 
bear, a Wolf (or possibly ktspo-Mwcdd) crest (e.g. "Grizzly- 
bear's foot"). Some of the qana'da names also refer to the wolf 
(e.g. "Two-wolves-go-together," "Wolf-walks-along-the-beach"). 
It is important to note that the strict linguistic analysis of the 
name does not in every case make the reference to the crest animal 

'The bullhead does not occur in my list of Nass River crests. I learn from Mr. C. M. 
Barbeau, who has recently made an exhaustive study of the social organization of the Tsimshian 
proper, that the bullhead is a qanha'da crest. 

'I do not know whether mUc of this name is to be translated "white" or "red." It means 
properly "red," but it seems to be regularly translated "white" in crest names, e.g. mac wa'" 
"white deer," mU-'c Ml' "white marten," mdc '3'' "white bear." Mr. Barbeau's testimony is 
corroborative of this curious fact, for he finds mes-'y'l translated as "white bear," in spite of 
Boas' rendering of this term as "red bear." 



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE NASS RIVER INDIANS. 27 

seem at all necessary. In other words, there is no doubt that 
the custom of what may be termed cross-phratric naming, 
once established, led to the habit of reading extra-phratric crest 
interpretations into names that may have originated quite differ- 
ently. This type of reinterpretation of names is analogous to other 
methods of reinterpreting names current among other American 
tribes, e.g. reading references to clan animals into names belonging 
to corresponding clans or reading mythological allusions into 
them. From a linguistic standpoint it is interesting to note 
that many Nass River names are really sentences consisting 
of several words, e.g. qaldcx-ma'q-t lo-la4tl kcbo" "he-throws- 
behind-corpse-of-wolf," (gaW^x- local particle "behind the houses" ; 
maq- verb stem "to put down, throw" ; -/ third person subjective; 
lo-laqt- "corpse," object of preceding verb; -I connective syn- 
tactic element, here showing that following noun is genitively 
related to preceding; kibo-' "wolf"). Such sentence names are full 
ceremonial forms that undoubtedly appear much abbreviated in 
ordinary usage. It seems highly probable to me that many, 
if not all, such names arose from a desire to give a full legendary 
or crest-referring context to older simpler names (e.g. qaldcxma'qt 
"he throws behind") that only implied or were secondarily 
made to imply such a reference. 

When Chief Derrick's attention was called to the cross- 
phratric character of several of the names, he explained that 
such names were due to the fact that they were bestowed by the 
father, who, in a matrilineal society with phratric exogamy, 
necessarily belonged to a different phratry from his son or daugh- 
ter. Thus, in a name like 'axgcpa-yuk"" "Eagle-remains-on-a-tree- 
unable-to-fly," borne by a Wolf man of the noble class, he stated 
specifically that the reference was to the crest of his Eagle father. 
Chief Derrick further connected the giving of a cross-phratric 
name with the fact that a child is born in a house belonging not 
to his own phratry, but to that of his father; when still young, 
however, he was sent away to be brought up at the house of his 
maternal uncle, where he would live with his family kinsmen. 
This custom of change of residence early in life finds its exact 
counterpart among the Haida. 



28 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 

CEREMONIAL DANCES. 

One or two incidental facts were obtained in regard to the 
ceremonial dances of the secret societies, and are here given for 
what they are worth. Among the ceremonial dances whose 
performance was regarded as an inheritable privilege are : 

1. 'o-ldld', in which the performers practised cannibalism. 

2. lo-'lcm, in which the performers ate dogs. 

3. ho-nd-nd-'l, in which the performers broke objects with 
a long club, later paying for the property destroyed with objects 
of greater value. 

Chief Derrick claimed that the 'o-ldW and lo-'lmi were the 
two head dances and that the ho-nd-nd-'l was used only by 
princes. He claimed to have the right to the performance of 
the lo"lim and ho-nd-nd-'l but not to that of the 'o-ldld'} 

CLASSES OF SOCIETY. 

A few scanty notes were obtained on the classes of society 
formerly recognized among the Nass River Indians. Chief 
Derrick recognized three main classes: 

1. cdtngi^d't "nobles, chiefs." 

2. wa-'a-''(n "common people." 

3. Idr'ngU "slaves." 

The term Idr'n^ii is evidently the reduplicated plural of 
Ic-'n^U (cf. Tlingit Ivngc't), the Tlingit word for "people." It 
implies that the main source of the slave class among the Nass 
River people was constituted by captives taken in war with the 
Tlingit Indians to the north. 

The common people, as well as the nobles, were represented 
in all four of the phratries or pHc^q^K They were allowed to show 
the less important crests in potlatches, but not the main crests. 

>A relatively fuU account of the secret societies of the Nass River Indians is given by F. 
Boas in his report on The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the KwakiuU Indians 
(Report of U. S. National Museum for 1895), pp. 651-659. 



social organization of the nass river indians. 29 

Phonetic Key. 
Vowels: 

a, like o of German hat. It often, in fact normally, is slightly palatalized, 
corresponding to a of French la. 

a, like a of English hat. 

a, like u of English but. 
e, like e of French et6. 

c, like e of English men. 
t, like i of French fini. 

I, like t of English it. 

0, like of English note. 

0, like o of German wW. 

6>, approximately like aw of English law. It stands acoustically midway 
between o and 9. 

«, like ou of French bouche. 

0, like tt of English full. 

", *. '. '. '. ". " are weakly articulated forms of c, e, c, r, 3, o, and u res- 
pectively. They generally occur as rearticulations of preceding fuller vowels. 

Consonants : 

b, as in English be; softened form of ^. 

p, intermediate in articulation, i.e. acoustically midway between English 
b and p. 

P\ surd p followed by aspiration; developed from p. 

p, glottalized p, i.e. p pronounced with simultaneous glottal closure, 
release of oral closure being earlier than that of glottal closure; between 
vowels p is pronounced with less stress, so as to suggest b'. 

m, as in English. 

'm, m pronounced with glottal closure immediately preceding. 

w, as in English we. 

'w, w pronounced with glottal closure immediately preceding. 

d, as in English do; softened form oi t. 

t, intermediate in articulation, i.e. acoustically midway between English 
d and /. 

/', surd t followed by aspiration; developed from t. 

t, glottalized t (defined similarly to p); between vowels it suggests d'. 

n, as in English. 

'n, n pronounced with glottal closure immediately preceding. 

f, anterior palatal g, approximately as in English argue (including y- 
element of m); softened form of ^. 

k, intermediate in articulation, approximately like c of English excuse 
(including y-element of u). 

^', surd ^ followed by aspiration; developed from ^■ 

j, glottalized ^ (defined similarly to P); between vowels it suggests g'. 

y, as in English yes. 

'y, y pronounced with glottal closure immediately preceding. 

y, voiceless anterior palatal spirant, like ch of German ich. 
' g, as in English gun; softened form oi k. c- i- u 

k, intermediate in articulation, i.e. acoustically midway between English 
, g and k. 
[ k', surd k followed by aspiration; developed from k. ^ 

k, glottalized k (defined similarly to P) ; between vowels it suggests g . 

gw, kw, k'", kw, (/?"), labialized forms of g, k, k', and k respectively. 

X, X", voiceless spirants corresponding in position to k' and fe*". 
r ?, velar g; softened form of q. 
I 5, intermediate in articulation, i.e. acoustically midway between g and 

I ^"'"'^ 5" 

L q', surd g followed by aspiration; developed from g. 



30 MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 19. 

4, glottalized q (defined similarly to P) ; between vowels it suggests ?'. 

y, voiced velar spirant corresponding, in position to ?, from which it is 
developed. 

y, voiceless velar spirant, approximately like ch of German ach. 

%w, qw, g'", jw yw, y", labialized forms of f, g, q\ q, y, and y respectively. 

s, as in English so. 

c, acoustically midway between s and 5^ of English ship, s and c are 
variants of one sound. 

dj, approximately j of English just, but verging towards dz. 

ts, tc, approximately like ts and ch of English hats and child respectively; 
variants of one sound. 

ts, (c, glottalized forms of ts and tc respectively (defined similarly to p) ; 
variants of one sound. 

/, as in English. 

7, / pronounced with glottal closure immediately preceding. 

/, voiceless spirantal /. 

"i '. ', *, weakly articulated forms of n, I, t, and k, occurring in final position. 

', glottal closure. 

', breath release. 

Diacritical Marks: 

', denotes that preceding vowel is long. 

', indicates that preceding vowel is stressed. 



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